Of Chaos and Order
by HollowPointVictory
Summary: There is no way in Hades this is happening to me! Is it? (I must warn you now, I will not be updating regularly, nor will my writing style stay the same, or anything make sense for a while, in fact, it's probably best that you give up on any form of logic now, so as to not confuse yourself.) Good Luck...
1. Chapter 1

**Perseus POV**

There was no way I could have been expected to see this coming. In fact, anyone who had seen this coming, I would've suggested a vision check for, or a brief stay at a mental institution. I wasn't a complete suck-up to the Olympians, but I was pretty loyal, so you'd think I'd get some points for effort, but: Nope! As soon as I got powerful, they got scared. They could have left me alone, but NAH! Let's poke it with sticks, or in simpler terms, they tested me. They made me jump through hoops, just to see how high I could jump. Please note, all you stupid people out there, the entire last sentence, was a metaphor. They actually made me fight to survive. They did testing and studied me, they even made up a calendar for me. Mondays, I'd be in the lab of Apollo, getting lab cultures done, and my brain scanned. Tuesdays, I had a date with Athena in the sparring hall, testing reaction to neural stimuli and attempting to detect enhancements in battle capability. Wednesdays, I had off, while Thursdays, I would spend being chased around all over the eastern seaboard by a pack of vicious, prepubescent girls in silver get-ups and wielding silver bows and arrows. Friday was a fun day for me. On Fridays I would get to wander around Olympus, and usually I would spend my day between Apollo, Artemis, Athena, or Aphrodite's palace. I'm not doing anything wrong with Aphrodite, you perv, but she is a bit lonely ever since Ares became a common sight in the infirmary, and I was good company since Hephaestus wasn't much of a companion. Unfortunately for me, or fortunately, today was Tuesday.

I dodged Athena's jab to my chest, jumping back to avoid the side slash that she followed through with. Jumping forward with a move that I had seen in dreams, I swung my scythe sideways from the left, and reached out with my other hand to grab the edge of the scythe and locked her in a stalemate. I brought my knee up to her chest and locked it there, we were at loggerheads, her spear was useless at this close distance and I couldn't move an inch without dropping my knee and leaving myself begging for a crotch-shot.

" I have a question." I said while we were in this position. "Why is it that all of these people that used to be my friend are suddenly acting like they don't know me? I mean, you and I used to be getting along fine…-ish. I mean we weren't BFF's but I genuinely liked you as a person, and now you keep pushing me away! why?" I asked, pleading with her to give me something to work with. I don't know why, but I think I saw her inner shields breaking for just a moment, and then she just put the shields back up and lashed out with a kick to my leg, and knocked me onto the ground. I jumped up and leapt backwards. I was angry now, I was pouring my heart out to her and she just used it as an opening. I leapt forward and slashed quickly at her defended left side and broke through her spear by loosing a kick with the inside of my leg, directly into my scythe, giving a second burst of power, breaking her spear into two halves and reducing her reach. I lashed out again at her spear side and pulled back at the last second, moving my hand up the handle of the scythe. I skimmed my scythe along the handle of Athena's spear and hooked the base of the blade and pulled back even more, ripping her weapon out of her hands. I couldn't attack her like this, it wouldn't be fair, so I gave her a choice.

"Please, Athena, just talk to me." I said pleadingly. She seemed to break down, but only for a second, suddenly she was standing straight up, completely undefended. She tilted her head to the side and reached into her pocket, pulling out what appeared to be a remote. We made eye contact for a few seconds and I raised my eyebrow at her, but she waved me off. She pressed a button on her remote and said out loud, to no one in particular. "Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, in the Key of E flat." And suddenly a song started up, surrounding me in a cocoon of sound, but it was just too somber.

"Pttb! No thank you! How about, Monster by The Automatic Automatic?" I said, the same way that Athena did, interrupting her song midway. I smiled sarcastically at her and stalked forward to her, my smile taking on a more sinister tone. I would never, and I mean, _**never **_hurt Athena, but I was going to give her one hell of a scare. She summoned another spear and her shield Aegis which was beginning to lose it's effect on me. Athena met my charge with one of her own, but this time, she wasn't pulling punches. _Or slashes_, I thought to myself coyly as I pulled myself up from the matrix position, pulling my torso back as she stabbed at me again. I finally saw my opening and I took it. The pattern was slowly becoming more and more in sync with the music, and I caught her at the chorus. I pulled her in close, and just as we were about to be vertically cuddling, she whispered in my ear.

"Meet me after the sparring match, not on Olympus, though. There's a group of us that disagree with Zeus' decision. We'll speak later, for now, we fight." She said, I was so happy that I did something that surprised even me, and I'm the one who did it, I leaned over and kissed Athena's cheek. I'm known for not thinking things through, but this was beyond even me. Then I jumped up and away, blushing horribly, I smiled hesitantly and threw my new sword in its sheath to the ground, it was only weighing me down. Athena's eyes flitted to the sword and back to me. I laughed slightly at the look on her face, she looked so contemplative, like she was staring at a chess board.

"It's a beautiful blade." I stated. She nodded her agreement and proceeded to attack me relentlessly, she jabbed at me, and I jumped back, grabbing her spear on the last drum solo again. I pulled on the shaft and drew her forward, kicking her in the chest, not hard enough to kill her, but enough to knock her breathe out of her. I held on to her arm and pulled her close to me. I brought my scythe around her and made sure that she was in the same position again. I smiled at her and said very quietly, "I win, you can't distract me again."

"You win." Athena said sullenly, I don't know why, but I hated seeing her like this so I let her go and jumped back, and released her. She stared at me flabbergasted, glared hard, and I smiled. "Don't patronize me Perseus."

"I'm not patronizing you, I accidentally dropped your arm." I said, making her raise an eyebrow. "Oops, butterfingers! I guess that means you win." I said. Athena shook her head at me when I mentioned butterfingers and smiled at me like I was just being stupid. She transported away her spear and shield and picked up my sword, throwing it to me. I laughed and caught it. "Now what? Since I'm done with training today, would you like to go somewhere. I would be honored if you were to come with me to somewhere off Olympus." I said, bowing slightly, with a mildly hopeful look on my face.

"Umm, sure, I guess." She said, and I thanked my lucky constellation she remembered about the meeting with my fan club or else she would have killed me for asking her out. "Of course, wherever we go, you're paying." She said straightening up and smirking.

"Great, I'll meet you in five minutes at the elevator, and if you meet anyone on my fan club then if you would bring them along with you too." I said quietly. Athena stared at me strangely, and I realized that she didn't know what I meant by 'fan club'. "I mean, any of my friends, and see if you can get Annabeth, to come with you, eh?"

Athena half flinched, half grimaced when I mentioned Annabeth. "Umm, Annabeth, she, umm, isn't really receptive to the whole, thing with you. Um-" I stopped her here, and interrupted her by saying.

"Just say it, please, I hate it when people mince words." I said, frowning. I was on the verge of a panic attack when she cleared her throat.

"Annabeth doesn't want to see you, she…hates you and, I fears she may be on Zeus' side." Athena said with a quiver in her voice. I was angry, to say the least, but I knew that it wasn't Athena's fault, it was my fault. I was going to talk to her about it later, but I knew that with Zeus watching, now would not be the best time.

"Thank you, thank you for telling me." I said as I started to feel the tears fall down my face. I walked out of the arena and into the area that I was staying at. I didn't feel like walking, so I tried something new, something that I had only done once, hydro-port, or as that's what I like to call it anyway. I walked up to one of the fountains that Olympus seems to have so many of. I didn't know exactly how it worked but Athena said something about wavelengths and mass and stuff like that, I really wasn't paying attention. I jumped in and focused on the water around me and imagined a drain, a drain that all the water in the world was falling into, I then imagined coming out at the fountain in my palace, and suddenly, I was there. I changed out of my armor and noticed something strange in the mirror. I usually wasn't vain, but I looked to be getting leaner, trimming down. I'd seen Jason's change as he practiced with his fighting. He got bigger arms and a broader chest when he really pushed himself, while I seemed to get smaller, like I was all fat before. I shook my head, but the thought lingered, and I was doing way more than Jason did. I trained with gods. I fight Ares on a regular basis, and Athena, and Artemis, so how was I getting smaller? I finally cleared my head and started to get dressed.

I put on a rugged pair of cargo khakis, and a T-shirt that said; The truth is out there, and a picture of an eye on the center. I had gotten the T-shirt from Rachel who had a friend that made T-shirts. I grabbed my London jumper and my tactical weapons, a deadly pen named Anaklusmos, and a switchblade that magically extended into a scythe with the words Amnesia etched in, which translated mean, riptide and oblivion. I don't usually use a shield, so I started my trek down to the elevator.

"Took you long enough, Percy. What, did you decide you had to redo your makeup?" Athena asked me, teasingly. I decided that I would be the mature one and stuck my tongue out at her. She smiled at me, and I smiled back.

"Let's go, I haven't been off Olympus in ages!" I said, putting my arm out. Athena roped her arm through and we stepped into the elevator. When we reached the ground floor I tipped the doorman and walked out the door. I didn't know where we were going so I gestured for Athena to lead the way and she led me down the street to a coffee shop. She stepped up to the door and I opened it for her, shooting her a smile. She stepped by me, nodding slightly, and I stepped in behind her. I started a scan of the room and saw a booth in the back with a motley assortment of people in it, from a giant ginger, to a mousy little girl wearing a skirt. I followed Athena over and sat down beside her. The group I saw blew my mind. Artemis, Hephaestus, Hestia, Hermes, Apollo, and of course, Athena all squeezed into one booth. I was confused as to why Dad wasn't here, and Artemis was, but I shook the thoughts out of my head, I was lucky enough to have the people I did have here.

"Percy." Hestia said as she gave me a hug. She was in her eight year old form, so it looked like I was greeting my little sister. I hugged Hestia as I spun her around and put her down as I sat down. I looked across the table and saw all of their eyes on me, I flinched slightly but reverted to my sarcastic ways as usual when I was uncomfortable.

"I sell eight by ten glossies if you want the picture to last longer, because, I hate to break it to you, but I'm probably going to die soon, anyone want to buy?" I asked nervously, while tapping my foot on the floor. Athena smirked slightly and Artemis rolled her eyes. I laughed at their responses and hugged Hestia closer to me, she symbolized hope for me, and I wanted her as close as possible.

An hour into the meeting, I had gone through two muffins, two cups of espresso, and a brownie, much to the dismay of all of the other residents of the meeting, but instead of feeling over-hyper I felt, settled, calm. I also felt brimming with questions, questions like.

"Why am I getting skinnier if I keep on training? I mean, I'm not usually vain, but I'm shrinking, and I'm wondering if this has to do with the stuff, despite training with Athena, and Ares **and **Artemis. I- well, it'll be easier if I show you. Is there somewhere we can go to get some privacy?" I asked quietly, while leaning forward, to show urgency. Artemis nodded and started to get up when suddenly everyone in the café got up and left dropping their leftover food and drinks in the trash and saying goodbye to the owner of the shop, who they referred to as Aunty D. At first I was worried, the last 'Aunty' I had met was a gorgon, I shuddered to think what this one would be. I was pleasantly surprised to see Demeter standing behind the counter, smiling at the retreating forms of the customers. She looked over at us I noticed Artemis nod at her and she snapped her fingers, lowering all of the blinds, and went behind, into the kitchen, or I assumed that's what was back there.

"Take your shirt off." A feminine voice said behind me. I was startled, so I obeyed without question, but not without snark

"I work for tips, you know." I smirked, but the heavy atmosphere made me obey. When I turned around I saw Athena with a strange look on her face, it was somewhere in between a studying scowl and a constrained smile. Feeling all these eyes on me made me blush as well. I turned to look at Artemis, she looked mildly curious as well, but she wasn't blushing. Apollo was curious as well, but more as a doctor than anything else, I mean, he was straight. Hestia was smiling too, but she was smiling at Athena's face.

"This is strange. Apollo?" Athena asked quickly. Apollo walked up to me and poked me and prodded me all over my arms and upper chest. I didn't like being treated like a guinea pig, but still, I was looking for answers, so I bit my tongue. I looked over at Apollo and noticed him looking at my arm with glazed over eyes.

"I've never seen something like this before. There is no way this could happen, but it happened. Percy's muscles are, well, they've compounded, I guess." Apollo said, focusing for once. "Muscles are basically strands of cells that have certain elastic properties, but these, these are beyond anything I have ever seen. Percy's cells have ten times the strength that usual muscles should have, he is probably stronger than every god on Olympus. Percy has the ability to gain more and more strength, but he will never get bigger."

"Hunter!" Artemis suddenly exclaimed. "He's built like a hunter," Artemis said, blushing slightly with all the eyes on her. "He's not a gargantuan giant, but he can punch like one, so he can maneuver underbrush, and draw his bow with amazing power." Artemis finished uncertainly, blushing at the smile that she was receiving from me.

I was about to put my shirt on when there was a flash of someone teleporting in. Suddenly something made sense, why there was no interruption. Suddenly Hecate and Nike appeared in the room with us. Hecate was panting heavily and sweating, looking like she was about to pass out. I ran to her side and helped her to a chair, setting her down and hopping the counter to get her some water. Hecate took the water and thanked me. Me and Hecate were close because she had been one of the people that had actually performed the tests that Athena wanted. Nike and me were pretty close, but not as much as Hecate.

"Nike, would you care to explain what is going on?" Athena asked impatiently. "I told you, you need to make sure that no one finds this meeting. Is everything alright?" Athena asked as she saw Hecate's obvious discomfort.

"Tomorrow… Zeus…Hunting…Percy… Deathly Games." Hecate barely managed to say between gasps.

"What she meant to say is that tomorrow the Deathly Games will start. You and your hunters will be hunting Percy, and if you find him you have to kill him. Either that, or you have to give up your seat on the Olympian council." Nike said quickly, she walked up to Percy and hugged him. Percy had grown close to and was respected by many of the minor gods and goddesses.

"Alright then. I'm going to need to see my mother, say goodbye. Then I'll go to camp, say my goodbyes. When they burn my shroud te-" I said before suddenly '_**SMACK'**_

Artemis slapped me, across my face, harder than I had ever been hit before. I turned to look at her and saw tears streaming down her face. She looked at me and I saw the pain in her eyes.

"Don't you dare say that, you are not going to die, we'll find a way. Athena always has a plan, we won't let you die, You really think that we'll just let you give up, you're special, different, and honestly, you're a great friend." Artemis said as she wiped the tears from her face. I frowned, unsure of why she was this sensitive, but I walked over to her and looked her in the eyes. She hit me in the back of the head again and I lurched forward. I was worried about how angry she was, so I didn't look up yet. Artemis looked up at me and grabbed my chin, pushing it up. She was crying again so I reached down to wipe the tear stains from her face.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to make you upset, but," I said, beginning to put some steel in my voice. "I will not let any of my friends, you included, be harmed if I can help it." I stood up and grabbed her shoulders, she flinched slightly, but I pulled her to me in a hug. Hestia, Athena, Nike and Hecate also pulled into the hug.

"Guys, Athena has a plan." Athena said suddenly, conjuring a table and a set of chairs. I pulled out a chair for Artemis and pushed it back in for her and then sat down beside her, rubbing circles on her back gently. Hestia sat on my other side. "Now, we know where the Deathly Games will most likely take place, because we'd need a large area to even perform a hunt. Now, using that to our advantage, we can set up a safe area where we can keep you, and send Artemis back with a falsified kill-proof. All we need is enough blood to make it look believable, and something you would never part with." Here, Hestia, one of the few who didn't know about hunting asked the question that was nagging me as well, in a form.

"What's kill-proof?" She asked, and I smiled at her naivety. "What would possibly be important enough to Perseus to have to kill him to get it?" I tried to keep the surprise off my face, but I failed, completely. Five hours and three pints later, I was drop dead tired and a little bit worried when I went to bed that night, there had been a lot of work for me and despite my increased strength, I was still tired.

My dreams were scattered and frightening that night, I saw many things that scared me beyond belief, there were my friends, screaming, being slaughtered, their blood was being spilt for me, and their heads rolling as I sat on a throne of bones and watched on, and I hated it. There they were, dying for me.

I woke up in a cold sweat, but despite the terrifying dreams, I wasn't scared, I was angry, determined, and stone set on completing the task ahead of me. I got up and got dressed, pulling on a pair of camouflage pants and a black shirt, I pulled on a pair of combat boots and a pair of combat bowie knives. I grabbed a hat and scarf off of my dresser and grabbed a leather jacket and some small pieces of armor, like a pair of vambrances, a pair of pauldrons and a mail shirt that would defend my chest and wasn't too heavy.

I walked up to the throne room to see the council, despite already knowing what my test for today would be. Or so I thought. Two minutes into the meeting, things were getting strange. The way Zeus was speaking, made it seem like there would be more than just hunters coming after me.

"The campers from Camp Half Blood and from Camp Jupiter have been alerted to this hunting, and some have been chosen for the hunting in this tournament. There are fifteen others who will be joining the fight. Leo Valdez, Jason Grace, Reyna , Rachel Dare, Frank Zhang, Hazel Levesque, Nico Di Angelo, Travis and Connor Stoll, Clarisse La Rue, Katie Gardner, Aaron Diaz, Cameron Wiles, Joshua Barrowman, and finally, William Terrace will be joining the hunt." Zeus read off from a list that he had.

"I know most of them, but who are the last four on that list." I asked confused. I looked over at Athena, worry evident in my eyes. I knew this would hamper our plans, but we were going to continue, I knew that, Athena and Artemis wouldn't take no for an answer.

"Aaron Diaz, son of Ares, Cameron Wiles, son of Apollo, Joshua Barrowman, my son, and William Terrance, son of Hermes. I know that you haven't heard of them, but, they are great heroes and loyal to me- I mean Olympus." Zeus said, attempting to cover up his mistake. "They will be part of the group that will be hunting you. There is one thing I almost forgot to mention. Just in case you thought that this would be like the rest of the hunts, the hunters will be forced to use deadly force, or if they attempt to do so, they will be rewarded, with immortality, and if they succeed, they will be granted godhood." Zeus said with a smirk on his face. I knew that this meant that they would be trying extra hard, but I also knew that I had trained harder than anyone in camp. I had fought Ares at full strength, I was sure that these new campers couldn't be any harder.

"Alright. So, where is this 'hunt' going to take place?" I asked. I needed to know my surroundings if I was to survive long enough for our plan to succeed.

"The hunt will take place in Adirondack park, near the blue ridge mountains, you will receive a five minute head start. You will be given a bow and arrow and a spear." Zeus said smugly, he knew that I was no good with a bow or a spear, that's why he gave these to me.

"As you wish, Lord Zeus." I replied barely controlling my rage. "But I have one request. I have to know that you will not kill any hunter that I escape. And also, is there, by any chance, a safe zone?" I asked calmly. I knew that the answer was no, but I just needed him to say that. In case he had any plans of trying to avoid this fate that he had brought on himself.

"You're a funny one, aren't you Percy. I think not, you are going to be hunted, there really is no escape from this." Zeus said with a small smile on his face. I figured he would say that, but I had to ask. "However, no hunter shall be punished if you slip through their hands."

"Very well, your will be done." I said calmly, not taking my eyes off of the hearth. Suddenly, I was teleported away, into an area of woods that I had never seen before. There was low underbrush and some higher canopy trees. I knew that my best bet was to start on my way toward the pre-ordained safe zone, but I had to make the campers think I was being defiant with a last stand. I started cutting down thin trees and bushes, the hunters would know the trick and would be much more careful than the campers. I knew that Thalia, Jason and Leo were my aces. They were friends that I trusted, but that Zeus didn't know about.

A hunting horn rang out through the woods, but thankfully I had finished my 'fortifications' and was now setting off in a line north. Zeus may have thought that I was no good with a bow, but I had been training with Artemis, Apollo and all of the hunters. I drew the bow and without bending, the bow snapped in half. I growled, I was pissed, no I was enraged, but I should have suspected such treachery. Zeus had given me a bend-less bow and probably a dull spear. I pull it off my back and swung it experimentally. _**SNAP**_, the tip flies off with the entire front half of the spear, another fake. I pull a couple arrows out of the quiver and a thought hits me. I may not have a bow, but an arrow tip is aerodynamic enough to throw accurately, right? Well, I'll find out' I thought to myself, as he began to pull the tips off of the arrows.

After I finished the arrows I set on my way north, planning for an encounter with the hunters and the campers at any second. There was a rustling in the bushes near me, and I knew that this would be when the shit hit's the fan. The first enemy wasn't visible, but I heard them. I waited for a second footstep, but instead, I got a deadly projectile, skimming the air beside my ear.

I leapt to the side, and rolled a couple times, avoiding the gold blurs that became arrows as they embedded themselves in the ground. I knew who my enemy was, without seeing him. Cameron Wiles, that Apollo camper who Zeus told me was his lapdog. I automatically went on alert. Looking at the angles that the arrows came at, determining my enemy's location. A smart hunter would have already moved after the first miss, so I now knew it had to be him. He fired another arrow, from the same direction, skimming my side and cutting my jacket. I leapt forward, automatically drawing my impromptu knife. I already had a plan of attack, open to improvisations. First I would disarm him by cutting his bowstring, then I would- no, better idea. I would cut the bow itself, and use the string to tie him up. I would then take his arrows and move on to the next guest. Perfect.

Just as I approached him and raised my knife there was another rustle. Instead of the arrow I was expecting, I heard a scream and saw an unarmed figure running for their life. I looked down and saw that Cameron must have dropped his bow and quiver. I hunched over and started laughing. Then I remembered something: I have to follow him, he'll lead me to the rest of his group. I followed him silently until he reached a group of campers, they were obviously waiting for him to come back with good news. He met up with the group of four other campers and without warning my blood boiled, and my world flipped upside down. Annabeth, hanging off of that son of Zeus' arm, Joshua. I was mad enough that Annabeth just ditched me, but she ditched me for another guy. Now I think its about time that I got some revenge, and as a wise man once said, revenge is a dish best served with a side of whoop-ass.

As soon as I jumped out of the tree that I was hiding in, I instantly went into battle mode. I first lunged at the son of Hermes, giving him a swift kick to the kidneys, making him lurch forward and away from me. By now everyone was aware of my presence and was beginning to arm themselves. I drew my one of my 'sorta-knives' and threw one, embedding it into Cameron. Annabeth attacked me with an upward strike from her dagger and I leaned back, like in the matrix and kicked upward with my left foot, knocking the dagger up, out of her hand. After that, I leaned all the way back and planted my hands on the ground and pushed myself up and knocked Annabeth down. Then I leaned forward and used one of my arrowheads to stick her to the ground, effectively disabling her. I grabbed the dagger out of midair and threw it at the son of Zeus, it lodged itself into his shoulder and I jumped up, kicking him with both feet, in midair. He flew backward and I went and grabbed his sword from him. After scavenging all the weapons that I could, I heard a snap near me, like the breaking of a branch. I whirled around, already swinging my newly scavenged sword.

I was surprised to see Leo and Thalia, standing there, looking mildly perturbed. So surprised, in fact, that I kept my arm swinging and tripped forward, but I caught myself and stood up straight. I almost laughed at the face that they were making. Thalia was looking at me as if I had grown a second head, and Leo looked like his eyes were about to go on vacation from his skull. I didn't brush my hair that morning, so I didn't know if that was what they were staring at so I looked up, worried that I might have an ugly cowlick. Soon though, her face changed, and Thalia looked like she was deciding whether or not to laugh at me.

"What?!" I asked, impatiently. "What are you staring at?" I was about to wave my hand in front of their faces, but Leo shook his head and said.

"How did you do this? Three guys and Annabeth in less than ten seconds without allowing them to draw their swords. Dude, you're like a ninja."

"No, no, not a ninja, more like a velociraptor from Jurassic Park." Thalia said with a bit of awe, detectable in her voice. I smiled slightly but soon let the smile seep from my face. There was danger, I could feel it. There was a throbbing in the base of my skull, like a pulse, but not mine. I rose slowly to the balls of my feet, while bending my knees ever so slowly, I brought my arms up with a knife in a down position. I motioned for Leo and Thalia to be silent and listened for breathing from the attacker. I felt a presence, but no breathing, just a hum, like the sound of an engine, a huge engine, like a V-8 Hemi on steroids, on steroids. I sounded deadly, more deadly than anything that I had faced before, and I had faced gods and Titans and even giants. But this, this scared me witless.

Suddenly there was a flash of binding darkness and the hum got louder. I looked around to find the source of the hum and the light. There, it was behind me. I whirled around, ready to embed an arrowhead in whatever it is that's giving off this light and this sound.

The arrowhead flew with perfect accuracy, and embedded itself into someone that would change my life forever, literally, forever.


	2. Chapter 2

As soon as the arrowhead was out of my hand, it began to seem like a really bad idea. When I really focused, the presence didn't seem angry, or even hostile, it actually felt rather grandfatherly. I guess you could say it felt friendly, but that wasn't quite it either. The presence seemed almost, sad, like it was mourning something, but also familiar. I know I've felt that sadness before.

"OWWW!" A man's voice screamed, I assumed that was the person I hit with the arrowhead, or would have hit, had it not stopped in mid-air. "What was that for?" The voice called out as the light and the hum diminished. I looked over to Thalia and Leo, they seemed to be unhurt, but they were shielding their eyes from the light.

As the light died down I saw two figures, a man and a woman. It was the male I heard, obviously, he was rubbing the back of his head, like he was nursing a wound, which made no sense, since my arrow head hadn't done any damage. I had just hit a force field in front of the two figures. Artemis would have killed me if I had missed a target at this close of a range

"I told you to do this covertly, you dolt!" The woman said, much quieter than the man had been, but still loud enough to cause everyone around to flinch. "We didn't want Zeus popping in on us. Now we're going to have to practically kidnap them and then explain everything, in hopes that they don't get scared away by your tactlessness."

"Nah, I'm not scared, its not like you guys just supernova'd in here and were like "BAM!", I thought it was pretty cool, but I may need a new pair of pants." Leo said out of nowhere, waving his hand in a dismissive gesture, rather effeminately, and suddenly he had three pairs of eyes on him. Thalia chose that moment to speak up as well.

"Yeah, as much as it pains me to say it. I agree with Leo, that was pretty awesome, though terrifying." She said with a shrug as Leo put his hand over his heart and a look of mock hurt on his face.

"Do you really dislike agreeing with me?" Leo asked, pouting at Thalia, until she gave him a look. "That hurts my heart. I'd point to it, but I failed anatomy."

"Getting back to business." The strange woman said as she slapped the man in the back of the head, causing him to rub the back of his head again and explaining why he was doing it before. "We need to hurry, Zeus will have noticed the spike in power in this area and is, no doubt going to pop in any second, and I doubt he'll be thrilled to see you three in cahoots. So, you need to come with us now. We will take you," she said as she pointed at me. "with us. You will need our training if you are to defeat the new evil that arises as we speak."

When I thought about it, it made zero sense. I had noticed that in quests lately, from the reports I had been reading, the heroes hadn't been stumbling upon large groups of monsters less frequently instead of small groups all the time, in fact, it was quite the opposite, little groups were everywhere. I was still following this train of thought when I felt something change, just for a second, it was noticeable though, a power change, like someone had teleported in and was trying to hide themselves.

I saw that the two strangers had felt the power shift as well and were searching for the person who had flashed in. I looked in the direction that the power came from and saw that it was coming from behind me, near where Thalia and Leo were standing. I beckoned for them to come closer, causing them to look at me with raised eyebrows.

"There's someone coming. Can't you feel it? Someone's here." I told them with an edge of danger in my voice. I was worried for them, they may be strong, but they didn't compare to the energy that had been given off from this person, I could tell that it was a god, who, however was still unknown to me. I looked back to where the two people were but noticed that the man wasn't there. I looked for him but he was back where he first was as soon as I looked away. He was holding Artemis by the neck, and he had a strange look in his eye, like he was straining to contract every muscle in his body at once. Trust me, it isn't easy.

I was alarmed by the sight but quickly got over it and jumped forward, slamming my fist into the man's wrist and pulling Artemis backwards, basically protecting her with my body.

"Back off, try to hurt my friend, and you will die, immortal or not." I said, trying to be intimidating to these, enigmatic, terrifying foes. Artemis stood up quickly and pushed me out of the way, effectively placing herself in front of me.

"Is it really you? Hestia said that she would try to contact you two, but are you-?  
I didn't think you would show up this quickly." She said, bowing her head slightly as she said the last line.

"Yep, and a grain of salt." The woman said quickly, looking at Artemis with a mournful expression. I looked between the two and noticed that Artemis also looked like she was about to lose another friend like Zoe.

Artemis turned around and began talking to me very quickly, her words moving a mile a minute. I tried to keep up with her but my ADHD only did so much, and I was left in the dust at: "Trust me, and trust them." I nodded slightly, pretending to understand what she was talking about, and bowed my head toward Artemis. Artemis smiled and did something that surprised me and everyone around us, more than anything I've ever experienced before, She kissed me.

It wasn't a lip to lip kiss or anything like that, nor was it long, but it lingered in my mind for what felt like an eternity. I finally snapped out of it when I noticed that my mouth was hanging open, but Lord only knows how long that was. I smiled at her and she gave me a friendly smile, but her cheek was alight with a blush that betrayed the true meaning of the kiss. Finally, she turned and ran into the underbrush, leaping away with the grace of a gazelle. I smiled and shook my head again, and turned around to face the two deities, but as soon as I turned around, I felt something on the back of my neck, like a laser-sight from a sniper rifle on my skin, magnified in intensity times ten. Without looking where I was leaping, or looking at what I was avoiding, I jumped to the left and rolled for a couple feet, a crater smoldering just inches behind me. I knew what had made the crater, I knew it even before I could smell the ozone, or before I saw the after-images, and before I heard the banging echo of the thunder behind the lightning. I knew what was going on.

_**Zeus!**_ I can't believe that bastard is too much of a coward to show up and fight me himself. I jumped back into the crater again, avoiding yet another lightning bolt, but this time, the aftershock was enough to cause my muscles to contract up, making me land hard on my shoulder. I was up on my feet again soon enough, but another bolt didn't come. I looked around, hoping and praying that Thalia and Leo weren't hurt, but they weren't there, and neither were the two deities from before. There were, however, new guests. Zeus, Ares and their spawn stood in front of me, in a phalanx formation with Zeus, Ares and Dionysus standing at the near tip and their children spreading out behind them. I growled in rage and was about to attack when I noticed that Zeus had sunken even lower into the moral cesspool. He had taken hostages. Rachel, Reyna, Hazel, Athena, and Aphrodite all were held by celestial bronze bonds, and guarded by one of the sentinels behind them. I was going to surrender, but suddenly, a huge bolt of lightning hit the spot where I had been standing. There was that damn son of Zeus, trying to regain his 'honor'. I was ready to kill someone now. So I did what came naturally, I charged.

I went first for Zeus because if I could free Athena she could free the rest of them, but things didn't happen the way I had planned, instead of reaching Zeus and fighting to the death, Ares stepped in. I first attacked from the left with a vicious roundhouse kick to the knee, that brought him crashing to the ground, I then jumped up and planted a two footed kick into the side of his skull. After this short fight, his body lurched to the ground. Next was my main objective in the first place, Zeus.

After my short skirmish with Ares, I kept buggering on, not even slowing down as I noticed with sick fascination that the boulder that was previously just sitting, was now flying, with killing intent, directly at me. I hit the deck, pulling a home-base, major league baseball slide, and rolling to a stop. I wouldn't even hesitate to gut Zeus if I got that chance, but unfortunately, that chance disappeared, but my reasons to gut Zeus only multiplied. As I was in final approach, and jumping into the air, preparing to drive my sword through Zeus' skull, Zeus flashed forward Athena's shield, Aegis, and chained her to it, raising the shield to block my attack, I did something desperate. I threw my sword to the side and moved my weight so I wouldn't crush Athena, but I grabbed onto the chains that held her to the shield, so I could whisper something in her ear.

"I'm sorry, but I can't win." I began, looking deep into her gray eyes, but I smiled and tried to end on a light note. "But if I die, I'm glad we went on that date." Athena managed a strangled laugh, and stared back at me.

"It wasn't much of a date. You're way too young for me, and my aunt, two of my brothers, and my sister were there, plus, you didn't even pay." Athena whispered back at me, smiling somberly. I gave her a wink, and whispered a final remark into her ear before letting go, and sliding down the shield.

"I surrender!" I yelled, thrusting my hands into the air, not bothering to block the shield bash aimed at my head. I fell to my knees, my back arching, and finally, I collapsed, and everything went black.

When I awoke, I was not greeted by a friendly sight, in fact, the sight scared me. There, in front of me, were Zeus, Ares and Dionysus, now usually these three alone wouldn't scare me, they were nothing compared to my allies, my allies were more powerful than all of them. But then I saw something that froze the blood in my veins. There were Athena, Aphrodite, Artemis, Reyna, Rachel, Piper and Hazel. I growled and realized that on my other side were Jason, Frank, Apollo, Hermes, and even Poseidon. They had captured my father? How? They couldn't have captured him, he could have destroyed Zeus.

"Father?" I tried to speak, but it came out as a strangled cough, my voice shredding my throat. I felt blood come up and spat onto the marble floor. Zeus beckoned a quivering figure in to give me some water, and smirked down at me, along with Ares and Dionysus.

The figure crept forward and gave me a sip of water, it was Hebe, another friend of mine. After the water, I gave Hebe a smile and she smiled back, or tried to, but the scar marring the side of her face below her eye. Her usually pale skin was blue and purple. Heracles was there too, sitting at the foot of Zeus' throne, pounding his club into the marble floor, over and over again. He snarled at Hebe and pulled on a chain, dragging her by her neck back to his side. I saw her sliding back, and gave a strangled grunt, trying to throw his arms around Hebe, but instead, there was a pull on my wrists and a crack from behind me. I grabbed Hebe around her waist and pulled her close to me, cracking the chain around her neck and pulling her out of Heracles' grasp. I looked at my hands, and saw the chains that had been binding me to the floor. I leaned back and cracked my back and made my way over to my other friends. I stopped beside each of them and got a damage report.

"Hey, Reyna, You okay?" I asked as I brushed some hair out of her face, I saw a bruise on the left side of her face as if someone hit her. I used some of my emergency ambrosia to heal her after I caressed her cheek and saw her grimace in pain at me touching her bruise. It lowered my supply, but it was a good cause.

"Hey Pipes, how you doing?" I asked and then looked at her stomach, she was bleeding profusely out of a wound that appeared to be from flogging. After I saw it I murmured to myself "Ask a stupid question." Causing her to laugh and then grimace as the pain returned. More Ambrosia was supplied to her and I watched in satisfaction as her wound healed itself.

"Hey RED, I see you aren't doing too bad." I said as I looked her up and down and saw no wounds, until I looked in her eyes. There, deep inside her eyes, I saw it. Madness, utter madness, like someone pushed her beyond the limits of the human mind and then broke her. I felt rage boil up inside of me, there was only one person on Olympus who could do this. I turned and glared at Dionysus, scaring him shitless. That glare, on a scale of one to ten, was a solid thirteen.

"Hazel?" I asked hesitantly, looking at her lulled head and slouched posture. I pulled up her chin to look me in the eye and noticed that someone had given her two black eyes. I calmed myself and gave her some more ambrosia.

"Athena, you good?" I asked, kneeling beside her. She nodded and looked up: no wounds, which made me feel better. I smiled at her and she smiled back before nodding her head to the other side, Artemis and Aphrodite. Artemis looked up and also nodded in the same direction. I nodded to her and moved to Aphrodite. I leaned down to look at her face but her hair blocked her face from my view. I tried to push the hair out of her face, but instead she turned away from me, scaring me more than anything else, finally, I snapped.

"Aphrodite, look at me." I said in the kindest tone I could manage. She shook her head no and looked away from me again. I kneeled down beside her and gave her a hug. She loosened up in my grasp and eventually hugged me back. I brushed aside her hair and looked at her face. The face that used to be so beautiful and happy and even sultry at times. The face that was now comprised of a huge bruise with areas of split skin and cuts. Her face was barely recognizable, if I hadn't known who Aphrodite was, I wouldn't have known who she is now. I looked her in the eye though, and I saw it, that thing that makes her truly beautiful, her hope, her love, her kindness. I smiled at her and merely said. "You look beautiful."

She looked me in the eye and I saw salty tears stream down her face, she looked so lost, and afraid, but I would help her. "Ares did this." I looked around for the source of the voice, to find Artemis speaking, her head still down. "He found out our plans, he just didn't know the pickup location. So, he went to Aphrodite, first he asked her nicely, then he tried another approach, torture." At this point I could barely control my anger. I was seriously tempted to go up to Ares and kick the crap out of him again, but I couldn't, not with all these hostages.

"Continue, please, Lady Artemis." I implored quietly, I was on the verge of yelling, or at least I felt like I was, but my voice came out as a whisper.

"Of course, Perseus. As I was saying, Ares first began to make cuts on her legs and on her breasts, then when she still wouldn't surrender the information, he began to beat her with his fists. He continued this until he realized that if she blacked out that she would not be able to speak, so he then began using his powers to super heat a knife and he pressed the side of the blade to the side of her bottom and to her legs and to the bottom of her feet. Aphrodite still hung tough. Ares then began to shove knives into her vagina, tearing, destroying and massacring her most sensitive flesh. She soon surrendered the information." At this point I understood. Ares wasn't just an ass, he was a sadist, a bastard and a disgrace to humanity. He already made me angry enough, but his next words were nailing his own coffin shut.

"Now that I think about it, this means I'm going to have to get a new slut to rape." Ares said with a smug grin. "Maybe an eternal maiden?" He said, leering at Artemis. As soon as he said that, something snapped, some of my best friends were eternal maidens and I knew that if I didn't do something, Zoë, Thalia, Athena, Hestia, Bianca, and even Clarisse, who became a hunter after the war when she lost Chris, would never forgive me, and neither would I.

I don't remember the next ten minutes, but apparently, according to Athena, I became a killing machine. The next thing that I remember was being chained to the floor again, but this time they weren't taking any chances, because I was chained with celestial bronze chains with an imperial gold link lock, basically, for every two celestial bronze links there was one imperial gold chain link. I looked around at the wreckage of the throne room and felt mildly afraid.

_What did this? What could have this much power?_ I looked around and saw that Zeus had Ares' knife sticking out of his shoulder. I looked for Ares, but didn't see him anywhere, but then I felt something dripping on my head. I looked up and saw a gruesome sight, but instead of being sickened, I was merely surprised.

"Hmm, that couldn't have been easy." I stated offhandedly, referring to the mangled mass of blood and bones that hung from what appeared to be someone's large intestines, there was a spinal cord with a brain hanging down from it, but the strangest thing was that it was gold, not red. I looked around to find Athena with a large puddle of bile in front of her and a slightly green face. Artemis appeared to be holding it back, but she was still grimacing. I looked up again and felt slightly apprehensive, I had done this, all of this, and now there was going to be hell to pay. I didn't even remember doing this, I must have blacked out or something, because I was sure that I couldn't have done this willingly, nor could I have done this unconscious, so there goes that option.

"You would dare attack a king of the gods?!" Zeus bellowed, raising his master bolt. "I shall kill you, but seeing as I am a benevolent and kind king, I will give you one last chance to swear loyalty to me and become my personal guard." He said, and without hesitation I leapt at one last chance…

To spit in his face. "I, Perseus Jackson, swear-"Suddenly, Artemis interrupted me with a strangled gasp, but I turned and winked at her, shrugging. "to defend that which is right, fight for truth and freedom, defeat tyranny and help those who cannot help themselves. I swear that I will be back to free Aphrodite, and I will heal her of everything that you've done to her, I will get Artemis back to her sisters, and I will finally stay awake in one of Athena's lectures. I will bring Apollo with me to a bar, and I will drive him home when he gets so wasted that he can't move, and I will help to rebuild the demigod camps beside Reyna, and I will help Piper finally master surfing, because these are my friends, and you just made the biggest mistake of eternity. You are so fu-!" Zeus threw his masterbolt, yelling in rage. Perseus was no more?


	3. Chapter 3

This is out to everyone who cares, doesn't care, or is just reading this for the hell of it. There's a few things that I wanted to answer, something out to my reviewers, and to all those who think I'm crazy. I am!

To: Kilo1999: Yes, it is after the giant war, but don't worry, it would have showed up anyway.

To: Graecus and Graeca: Thanks for the invite, and I'm glad you enjoyed the story, but personally, I'd suggest a Beta Reader for your story, just to edit it.

To: Jessicalovessocks: Thank you, and now, I'm going to blow your mind even more, I'm sorry this chapter is so short.

To: PixelUp: Yep! I plan on it.

**Now, to the story!**

**Athena's POV**

"Hmm, the boy was brave, I'll give him that, but no matter, his oath means nothing now, he probably wishes he could take it back by now." Zeus said calmly as his master bolt returned to his hand.

I stared at the spot where Perseus just was, but that's just it, where he _was_, he's not there now though, he's gone, dead, destroyed, annihilated, vaporized. I felt these thoughts flood my mind and I broke, there was just no way, Perseus wasn't just going to give up, he wouldn't just die. I felt the heat build up in my chest and it began to become difficult to breath. I felt a lone tear streak down my face, but something happened, suddenly, I was very calm, placid, not in a lethargic way, but in a content way, like I wasn't here anymore, like it was just a movie, a series of images floating in front of my eyes. The only thing that felt real was a voice in the back of my head

"_Stay strong my wise Athena. I need you. I will return, and I will keep my promise." _ I knew the voice, but it couldn't be, there was no way, he's dead. I smiled to myself, there was just something about that man, he just loved doing impossible things. My smile soon slipped from my face at Zeus' next words.

"Lord Zeus, I would ask that you allow me time with one of your daughters to get more personally acquainted." Cameron said with a greedy and disgusting smile on his face. I lurched forward and struggled against my bounds.

"Of course Cameron, they deserve to learn their place, who would you like, Artemis or Athena?" Zeus said, looking down at his two daughters in disdain. "Either that, or they can swear fealty to me."

"Of course Lord Zeus, however, I wouldn't mind having Lady Artemis." Artemis snarled and thrashed around, screaming profanities. I, however, was slack, unable to comprehend this. They can't do this to her, she's an eternal virgin.

"You disgusting vile pig, you disgust me, you sick, perverted bastard!" Artemis yelled at Cameron. I wanted to yell along with her, she shouldn't have to do this. This is sick. Suddenly, a timer appeared in my head, it read ten years, and twenty days. I knew what it represented. It meant that for once, I wasn't the one with the plan, Perseus was, or at least I hope.

"Shut up, bitch." Cameron yells and slaps her. "We're going to have fun tonight, you and me, you won't be pure enough for any of your hunters when I'm done with you." Cameron whispered into her ear, just loud enough so that I could hear it. Suddenly Artemis' eyes begin to tear up, and I know why, I'm the only one who knows why. She told me that she feared sex, she really feared it, it scared her to be with a man, in fact, any intimacy scared her. She had seen emotional pain first hand in her mother after Zeus just left her on her island and she never wanted to be like that. She never wanted to be hurt emotionally by a man.

All these thoughts raced through my, head and for once, I felt a mix of emotions that made me want to surrender to the pain and collapse, the pain would have been a comfort. I felt scared, no, not scared, terrified, mortified, aghast. I felt weak, useless, genuinely small. I felt like I had just killed my best friend.

"Now, Athena, you have also showed where your loyalties lie. I will give you a choice. Vow your undying loyalty to me and vow to obey my every word, or I will punish you harshly." Zeus said, looking at me smugly, he believed that his victory was assured, but that wasn't going to happen today.

"Let me out of these chains please father." I whispered quietly, with my head hanging. He knew that I had made my decision, and he released me. I stood up and put my hand to my heart and began speaking. "I Pallas Athena, swear on the river Styx, my undying loyalty," I looked up now, with a fire in my eyes, I glared my father down and I thought back to what Percy would do. "To Perseus Jackson, son of Poseidon, hero of Olympus, Bane of Titans, Killer of Giants, Defeater of Porphyrion, Gration, Alcyoneus, Leon and Kronos, Hyperion, Atlas" By now all of Percy's other allies had joined in in chanting this creed. Jason, Piper, Hazel, Frank, Travis, Connor, Katie, Aphrodite, Apollo, Hermes, Poseidon and suddenly, I wasn't afraid anymore, I felt brave, so very brave. "I pledge myself to stay loyal to the first person to gain the trust of not only Artemis and Apollo, but also myself and Aphrodite as well."

By the time I was done, Zeus' face was red with rage and I could see the veins pulsating in his neck and even on his forehead. I was tempted to laugh, if it hadn't been that he was gripping his master bolt like he wanted to blast us all to bits. Without warning, he threw it, his master bolt, and it hurtled at me, I saw it, but I could do nothing, I couldn't move, I couldn't think, couldn't even dodge, but then again, I didn't have to. The master bolt was just gone, one moment it was cutting through the air at maximum velocity, and the next, it wasn't. I don't know what happened, but whatever it was, it didn't need to happen twice, because fortunately Zeus was calmer now, breathing deeply and scowling, but calmer.

"Fine then, you shall be a sign, a sign to all those that would dare work against me, Zeus, King of the gods. You will be tied by dual chains, hung from the top of the dome, and your tongue will be cut out. You will be visible to all of Olympus and no one else will dare defy my orders again." Zeus then took a deep breath. "As for the demigods, the ones loyal to that sea spawn will be kept prisoner for bargaining chips if need be, they will not age, nor die, but they will be here when I need them. However, those who have pledge their loyalty to me will be made Olympians and will take the spaces of the traitor gods, and they will be given immense power." Zeus once again stopped and looked down to Hestia, where she sat near the hearth. "Now there is but one question. Where do you stand my dear sister? Are you on my side or that scum's side?"

Hestia looked up at him and for the first time ever, I saw her angry. Not coy, not disappointed, not even that sad look when you've done something stupid and you refuse to realize it. For once she was truly and wholly, enraged. It honestly scared me more than anything I saw that day. More than Perseus going psycho and killing Ares, more than Zeus throwing his master bolt at me, and more than Perseus' smile the few seconds before his death. Hestia hovered, fifteen feet in the air, flames licked at her eighteen year old body and her eyes glowed harsher than the sun. She seemed to stop in mid-air before she was captured in celestial bronze chains and dragged down to the ground. She struggled uselessly against her bounds and tried to heat them up to an extreme temperature, but nothing worked.

Zeus boomed out a laugh and I looked over to him to see that it wasn't a happy smile on his face, it was an evil grin. "I thought you would side with my upstart nephew so I devised a plan, and you fell right into my trap." He looked over to one of the Demigods. "Joshua. Take her to the place I set up and begin the torture. Then after, err, an hour, if she is still desirable, you may do as you'd like with her." He waved his hand and the boy came over to Hestia and dragged her away.

"Now, next we shall cut yo-" Zeus began before the earth began to shake.

"Damn you Zeus, you impetuous, idiotic pitiful excuse for a king. I shall kill you for your crimes." Poseidon said, tearing his arms out of the bonds and summoning his trident. He hurled the deadly projectile at the pinstripe suited dictator and quickly flashed himself behind it, only to instantly recall his weapon and his fist quickly and land back on the throne room floor, in full battle regalia. The obstacle that caused Poseidon's hasty reconsideration of attack was none other than Clarisse La Rue, Percy's friend and almost sister. Poseidon knew that Percy would not want him to attack Zeus and put his friend at risk.

"Leave Poseidon, and never return or I will kill all of your precious Perseus' friends, one by one. And to make sure that you do not underestimate me." Zeus said as he removed the knife that Percy had thrown at him from his shoulder and slit the girl's throat, killing her instantly. He then threw the child's body to the ground, right in front of me. I knew that there was but one thing that I could do, one thing that would signify my final stand of rebellion and would truly drive Zeus over the edge. I leaned down to the girl and used some of my power to automatically transport her body to Hades and make sure that she would have her last rites.

Over the next two hours all of the demigods were imprisoned in Olympus, the oracle was put under heavy guard and was put in the middle of the square where all of the people of Olympus could mock her and be warned that there was no mercy coming from the Olympians, ever again. Those who swore their allegiance to Zeus were made gods and even Olympians, just to fill in the ranks of evil dictators. Athena had her tongue cut out, as threatened and Apollo was hung from the bottom of Olympus to scream and moan in pain for all eternity. The sun was never carved it's path through the sky again. Neither was the moon seen for the next ten years for Artemis soon became a sex slave for all of the male gods and godlings of Olympus. Fortunately, however there was hope, for in a hidden away place in the center of the universe, there was a back-up plan, should things on earth ever get out of hand, two rules would be ignored for the remainder of the war that raged for peace and justice. One such rule was that of soul pilgrimage, the rule that stated that no soul should return to the world of the living in its old body with its own memories. The second rule was another important one as well. The rule separated Lord Order and Lady Chaos from having contact with heroes, but of course, desperate times call for desperate measures, and rules aren't for everyone.


	4. Chapter 4

**Perseus POV**

There has rarely been a time in my life where I've felt like I was truly understanding what was going on, but this situation seemed to reiterate the fact that I tend to be in the dark. I was currently sitting across from two extremely beautiful people who claimed to be the most powerful people in the universe. The jury was still out on this fact but their case was extremely convincing. They called themselves Lord Order, which, c'mon, it's awesome. And Lady Chaos, which also, in all honesty, had a nice ring to it.

"So, let me get this straight. You two are the most powerful people in the universe, and you need my help?" Lady Chaos nodded so I continued. "You" I said pointing at the man across from me. "created the universe, and everything in it, and you" Pointing at the woman. "Are eventually going to destroy it?"

"Yes, but don't worry, that's not for another thousand years." She said, taking a sip of her coffee. "You're here because you happen to be a very possible candidate for a position leading a series of operations that will require tremendous strength and cunning. There were many previous candidates, but none of them were up to it. We've tried Heracles, Ulysses Grant, George Washington, Jack Churchill, even Nikolai Tesla. Heracles was an a pompous overbearing leader type, while Ulysses was too forceful when it came to battle plans, George Washington was strong and brave, but not very wise, and Jack Churchill simply broke. Nikolai Tesla decided to go into research and development." She finished.

"Probably a good idea, Heracles probably would've done something to one of the other soldiers." I said, calming down slightly. "Hey, I live to please, but umm, I didn't leave earth on the best of terms, so maybe I could get a drink?" I asked, eyeing Lady Chaos' coffee.

"Of course, how inconsiderate of me, I didn't even ask if you wanted anything. Pardon my manners." Lord Order said, hailing for someone that I couldn't even see until they came into the light and I saw a face that brought a happiness welling up inside me. Leo, there he was, just standing there, smiling slyly.

"Leo Valdez, I can't believe it! I thought you were dead. Where's Thalia?" I leapt up and pulled him into a man hug and we laughed. I pulled him back to arm's length and looked him up and down. He had grown in such a short amount of time. I had seen him just a little while ago and it looked like he had aged almost an entire year. I was about to ask him about it when I heard someone clearing their throat behind me. I looked over my shoulder at the person, only to come face to face with the creator of the universe, well, that's what she said. I turned the rest of my body around to her and was surprised to see her holding a small, sharp, triangular dagger, much like the one that Annabeth used to use. I looked down warily at it and was about to ask her what it was for, when she stuck her hand out and motioned for me to put out my hand. I pulled my hand back and looked at her incredulously. Leo laughed at me and I glared at him, but stuck my hand out of her reach, concerned about her intentions, until I looked into her eyes, and suddenly I was in a different place.

"Trust them Perseus, just like you trust me." Artemis said, smiling at me and grasping my cheek, and she gave me a kiss. Then it was Piper, sitting on her surf board, smiling at me as the sun set.

"Hey, don't be a jerk Jackson, trust them, eh? You're needed here, and I have bad news, Jason, he's dead." Piper said, her head hunched, she almost lurched off the surfboard, she only stayed up because I willed the water to support her. The next scene was less emotional than the last one.

"Don't overthink it cutie, you're naturally loyal, they are too, so just, test the water with both feet." Aphrodite said, laying on her bed with a bowl of popcorn in front of her between my legs. I smiled and nodded his head, these may just be the voices in his head, but that's never stopped him before.

Then, I stuck out my hand.

"Do you, Perseus Jackson, swear fealty to us, Lord Order, and Lady Chaos? Do you swear to protect the good, defend the innocent, do you swear to topple injustice and defeat the wicked? Do you swear to never seek revenge for yourself and to always for those who have been persecuted by the corrupt and the powerful?" She asked me, looking me straight in the eye. I looked into her eyes and I saw something that reminded me of Athena; that thirst for justice, and desire for right. I smiled internally but kept an outwardly placid face.

"I swear on the blood of the Underworld, I swear on the honor of my family, that I will serve Lord Order and Lady Chaos. I swear that everything I am ordered to do, I shall do in the name of justice and order. Fealty shall be garnered to these before me, and I will return to kill Zeus." I swore. I looked up and was surprised to see tears streaming down her face. I stood up and hesitated, I looked over to Leo, silently asking him what I'm supposed to do. Leo made like he was hugging someone and I shot him a warning glare, if he was messing with me, he would pay, but I hugged her anyway. Lord Order was no longer here, but he couldn't have gone that far. I awkwardly patted her on the back and she began to laugh. I pulled back, and kept her at arm's length. "Are you laughing at me?" I asked incredulously, not sure if I should be insulted or laughing along. She looked me in the eye and nodded, I took this as a sign to laugh as well and did. Soon, all that could be heard in the throne room was the raucous laughter of a hero, a mechanic, and a queen.

"So, what'd we miss?" Lord Order asked as he entered into the throne room with a girl of about five foot eight, with a sniper scope hanging from her neck and a bow attached to her back and four quivers attached to her back and sides. I looked her up and down, she was thin, lithe, like a long distance runner, but she gave off an aura of strength that said; 'don't fuck with me', but I wasn't impressed, I was just reminded of Thalia. She wore a pair of black combat boots and baggy fatigues, she was also wearing a pair of kneepads and gloves that only had the first two fingers. Her face was shrouded by a mask that covered the bottom half of her face and a hood that covered her hair.

"Oh, my, I'm sorry, we were just having a heartwarming moment, but sure, butt in." Lady Chaos said sarcastically. "Ah, but I almost forgot: Perseus, hand, now." Lady Chaos said with a serious voice. I stuck my hand out nervously until I remembered my visions, and that if I go through with this oath, I can finally get revenge for all that Zeus has done. After that thought crossed my mind, I stuck my hand out, palm up and lifted my chin just a little bit. I didn't know what would happen next, but none of that mattered now, justice was in my grasp and it would not slip through my fingers.

"Lord Order, if you could be a witness to Perseus' swearing in, it would be much appreciated. I will now begin the ceremony." She said as she cut a straight line across my palm and ran her finger along the thin line of blood, chanting in a language that sounded like wind moving through a field of grass, and I felt like it was carrying me to a faraway place. The language itself consisted of long, rolling syllables that invoked peace and serenity. I smiled, but I felt something stirring in the back of my mind, memories, memories of every single battle I've ever been in, from the battle with Atlas, to Ares, to Kampe, all my duels with hunters popped into my head in slow motion, the moves that I made and that my opponent made were superimposed on me, my battles with Luke, Kronos, Hyperion and even some allies, my friends, like Athena, Artemis, Apollo, and Nike.

I suddenly felt knowledge flowing through me, I felt a sudden limberness flow back into me, like I had just stretched. I remembered the times that Artemis had used her hunting knives, I remembered the quick successions of slashes and quick jabs that she used on a larger, slower opponent. I remembered Apollo using his bow with his first three fingers holding two of his fletching and his thumb and pinkie holding the other fletching. I remembered Athena wielding her spear with large yet precise swings. She would bring the spear around in loops and bring it forward in quick jabs, and small cuts. I remembered it all, Kronos' fighting style from our final battle, Chryasor, on the Argo II. I remembered Polybotes, the giant bane of my father, and I remembered the trident he used.

I gasped, there was a sharp pain in the back of my head and it was getting more and more intense, like a fire in a bellows, pumped with oxygen. I hunched over, the pain was becoming overwhelming, it was like a knife being driven down my spine now. I could see black spots dancing in front of my eyes as I blinked a couple of times, and suddenly, just as fast as it appeared, it disappeared. I stood straight up and rolled my shoulders, trying to remove the stiffness in my neck. I looked around and almost immediately got a headache from the brightness of all of the sights and sounds around me. I quickly covered my ears and closed my eyes, trying to avoid the pain that was searing my retinas and assaulting my eardrums.

"That's the improved senses, give it a minute, you'll get used to it. The real question is, who are you going to be?" The stranger asked, stepping forward, but there was something strange going on, she seemed to be going extremely slow, like she was moving through syrup, I would ask someone about this later, but for the time, I moved on. By the time she got to me, I had already stepped up and I saw what she was hiding under her hood. I reached up and pulled her hood back and saw the raven black hair and electric blue eyes of my best friend and practically my sister, Thalia Grace.

"Thals?" I asked hesitantly, not believing my eyes. "I knew it, I knew you weren't dead. There was no way that Zeus could get to you." I said excitedly, pulling her into a hug. I was so glad to see her again that I pulled her back and then into a kiss. It was just a quick peck on her cheek.

"Nice to see you too seaweed brain." Thalia said, but the blush that dusted her cheeks gave away how she really felt. I smiled slightly, knowing that a similar blush probably rested on my cheeks. I smiled brightly at her and grabbed her hand. I wouldn't be letting her go anytime soon, nor would I let her out of my sight.

"Well this makes things easier, now we don't need to make introductions. Now, down to business. First you all should know that we cannot gift you with godly powers yet, for if we were, your bodies would implode from the power that you exert. However, we can train you for almost every contingency in the upcoming war against Zeus, and we can train you to control powers that are hidden latent inside you, once those powers are mastered then you should be able to control **one **of our possible powers. Now, to the biggest problem at hand, Zeus." As soon as she said that, a wave of anger rolled over me and I almost growled in pure, undiluted rage, I began to grasp my hands into fists, feeling the grinding as I inadvertently crushed Thalia's hand, as soon as I did, I felt like an idiot. I looked over at Thalia and noticed that she was looking down at her hand, I looked down as well and almost face-palmed at what had happened to Thalia's hand. Three of her fingers were dislocated, they were all awkwardly jutting out of her palm. Without really knowing what I was doing, I gave her fingers a good tug and relocated them, popping sounds echoing all throughout the hall. I looked up at Lady Chaos, and blushed, she, Leo, and Lord Order were staring at us, like we were stripping in the middle of the room.

"As I was saying; Zeus is beginning to refill the Olympian ranks with Demigods who have sworn loyalty to him and him alone. The Olympians who sided with you are being punished with extreme prejudice-" She said, but I cut her off.

"Show me, do the memory transfer, whatever you have to, just show me." I said, completely unafraid of disrespecting an all-powerful diety. In fact, at that moment, the two most powerful deities in the universe were more scared of their new recruit than the new recruit was afraid of them. Lord Order stepped forward and touched Percy's forehead, transferring the memories directly into his mind. Percy's eyes glazed over and he gained that thousand yard stare and a tear rolled it's way down his high cheekbones, to his jaw and eventually off of his chin, but what none of them saw was the brief flash of gold in the hero's eyes, for it was gone a moment after. Then, he looked down at Lady Chaos and for once, he focused completely on something, not just ninety percent, not fifty percent, he focused on her a full one-hundred percent. It was terrifying, and filled with power. "You've shown me these things, now what?" He asked with all the ferocity of a wolf with its cackles raised.

"You are going to train, and then you'll go back there, and you'll beat the crap out of Zeus and his followers. Begin a new government, and then live on. But before that, you're going to need a team, because three, won't quite do." Lord Order said looking between Percy, Thalia and Leo.

Percy looked over to his companions and turned to look at Lord Order again and smirked. "Then what the hell are we waiting for? Let's get started." He said, smirking slightly.

Li/ne

Today is the first day of training, and Percy is psyched, buzzing practically. Luckily all of the heroes of the training ground, were basically Thalia, Leo and Perseus, so there was fortunately plenty of room in the arena. Thalia and Leo, however, were having a problem, their torture subject, or rather trainee, was still in his room.

Training was set to begin in mere minutes, but Percy, attempting to discern what happened yesterday, was still lying on his bed, in his pajama pants and a T-shirt, completely engrossed in a dream. Thalia and Leo stood at the foot of his bed and were seriously pissed off, Percy may be a strong demigod, but if he underestimated them, they would kill him, without hesitation. Thalia and Leo's eyes met and they nodded simultaneously. Thalia went to Percy's face and prepared to shock him, while Leo set fire to his finger and prepared to set him ablaze.

"Three, two, one." Thalia whispered to Leo. At the same time, Leo singed Percy's leg while Thalia singed his eyebrows. Instantly, Percy was up, he was sitting straight up and staring at the wall ahead of him, he was definitely awake now.

"Good morning." Percy grumbled angrily as he shot up into a sitting position. Leo and Thalia were all rolling on the floor laughing at Percy's face, his eyebrows were practically seared off and he looked angry.

"Good morning to you too Percy." Thalia managed to choke out through tears and laughter. "C'mon, get up, we've got training in three minutes, and PS. I'm sorry."

"Shit! Leave, now." Percy ordered, using his scary voice, causing Leo to raise his hands in surrender and walk out. Thalia, however, stood there, smiling at Percy as she looked him up and down, he had grown and she was impressed, very impressed with his progress. Thalia quickly stepped forward and grasped Percy in a quick hug, and quickly dashed out of the room to prepare for the training.

**Perseus POV**

I could have stood there for the rest of the day, smiling like a moron, but I had training to go to, so I shook those thoughts to the back of my mind and changed into an army uniform. I looked up at the scythe on my wall and smiled, because I knew, If I were to stay here, next time I fought Zeus, I would win. And with that happy thought, I started on my way toward training and smiled at myself, thinking about what happened yesterday, I looked at my watched and realized I was running late, so I started sprinting toward training.

I was so engrossed in my thoughts that I barely noticed the figure standing in my way, facing the other direction, until I was laying on top of her, Chaos. I quickly leaped up and offered her my hand. She looked up at me and instead of grabbing my hand, she rolled backwards moving her center of gravity, and leaped up, landing lightly on her feet. My mouth must have dropped, because soon, Lady Chaos was doubled over laughing at me. I quickly shut my mouth and watched as Lady Chaos frowned slightly at me and for some reason I felt like I should be sorry for gaping.

"What's wrong?" I asked, concerned that I may have done something wrong, or hurt her. She patted me on the cheek and grabbed my hand, leading me toward the arena.

"I've never met a hero like you, the last time we had a hero here, he was nothing like you. He was conceited, and power hungry, and add that to the fact that he tried to bed all of the women in this compound, including myself, more than once." At this point, I had a feeling that she was talking about Heracles, but after a quick stare down with Lady Chaos, I nodded for her to continue. I looked down at the paving stones, engraved with strange writings and unrecognizable languages and continued walking. "He, of course, did not make it past the first test, he did not have the skill that you do, and he was also much more prideful than you, boasting about being capable of taking on his compatriots unarmed, effectively dooming himself to failure. He wasn't as strong as you are now, so his defeat was swift and sure, he had no chance, but you do. Not to say that your compatriots are weak, but you have the humility to never underestimate your opponents, and the skill to back you up in any fight." She said laughing. "I'm sure you'll make worse decisions than this." I was about to get angry, then I realized it was true, and I just huffed indignantly. She laughed at me and ruffled my hair. I tried to brush away her hand, but she just grabbed my hand and looked forward. I looked forward too and saw that we were nearing the arena. I squeezed her hand and jogged off toward the training gate. There, I would be briefed and given my first training assignment.

"You're late." Thalia said to me, without looking at me. I stuck my tongue out at her and walked to my station where I would be spending my first training station. I sat down and looked at the plethora of equipment in front of me. There were ankle bracelets, wrist weights, a set of weights that goes around my chest and a backpack that looked like it was stuffed to the brim with lead. I looked up at Thalia and noticed that she seemed to already be geared up and ready to go. I grimaced and put on my weights, grabbing my belt and the wrist bands. I knew how to put the waist belt on, and how to move with it, but after I put on the waist weights and the wrist bands, I couldn't move enough to pick up my backpack. I floundered about for a few minutes, trying to reach for the backpack and put it on, but I couldn't reach it. My arms waved uselessly, but I was unable to reach the bag until Thalia grabbed it for me and put it on my shoulders, suddenly, I felt like I was being suffocated. I took a deep breath, which was hard enough, but when we started running, I felt like I was dying, slowly being crushed, by the time I was done with my first lap, I just laid on the ground and tried to breathe. My back felt like it was being cut open, and my chest felt like it was being torn in two from keeping myself from falling flat on my back. When I was done getting all the oxygen that I missed during my 'brief jog'

I growled under my breath and lunged forward at her, cursing myself instantly, she had been training with the two most powerful people in the universe, and I just attacked her. Yeah, not the brightest idea, but the next thing that surprised me was the fact that despite not having any weights on, she still seemed to move at the same speed that I did, just barely stepping out of the way of my charge, but then kicking my butt, literally.

"Ouch!" Came a voice from behind me, showing little to no sympathy, though it pretended to. I looked over at the source of the voice, trying to keep my temper under control, then it all left, the anger, the embarrassment, the ire, even the twinge of self-loathing at missing, because there, standing beside Thalia, stood Lord Order, smiling at me, holding out his hand, as if to help me up. I quickly grabbed his hand and got to my feet, slightly frightened. I looked over at Thalia and saw her holding in a laugh, leaning on Lord Order's shoulder, like they were old friends. I smiled at the thought and shook my head, no, they weren't like old friends, they were Father and Daughter, and this was the family I've yearned for since I lost my mom.

"I'm- I'm sorry for…Um, growling at you, Lord Order." I said, struggling to sound respectful, a habit that never came easy to me. Lord Order gave me a reprimanding look and I widened my eyes, trying to figure out what it was that he was angry about, but nothing came to me, so I gave him my classic: 'Dazed-and-Confused' look that I had been practicing just for times like this.

"If you call me 'Lord Order'" He said mockingly. "again, I will slap you so hard that your head will be backwards on your neck. Now, go see Leo, he should be in the same room that you met Thalia, and hurry, or you'll never be ready to go back to earth." That single comment instantly changed everyone's mood, causing Thalia's eyes to darken, Lord Order to frown, and me to growl in trepidation.

"Yes sir." I spoke calmly, using every ounce of self control to not lash out verbally at the nearest target.

"Thalia, you will be going the same way, to put up your weight vests, so you can walk together. You guys can do your teenager stuff, flirting, or whatever they call it now-a-days." Lord Order said, smiling at Thalia and mine's raging blush and winking at me, mouthing 'You're Welcome', before flashing away. I looked over at Thalia, expecting her to be fuming, but instead, a look of consternation flitted onto her face for a moment, before she quickly shook her head, and her face changed into a small smile. I waved my hand in front of her face, trying to garner her attention. Thalia just swung her hand into the back of my head, sending me reeling forward. I stumbled for a couple seconds before I feel a hand grab my weights, pulling the zipper off of my weight vest and eventually letting my weight vest fall forward onto the ground in front of me. I reach forward and pick it up, amazed at how light it seems, even from only a day of training. I turn around to thank Thalia and realize that she's staring at something on my chest, it was embarrassing enough that I had to take off my shirt to put on the weight vest, but staring was just impolite. I looked down at my chest and realize something that I had never seen before, there, on my chest, just above my abs and in the center of my body, a tattoo.

My mom had never been a real stickler about keeping my skin unmarked, but I had never planned on getting any tattoo other than my legion tattoo, but there, in the middle of my chest, lies a tattoo of what looked to be an hourglass surrounded by a circle, with two clock hands sticking out from the center, and what appeared to be gear work that spread out in wing shapes toward my shoulders. I shake my head appreciatively examining the pattern.

"I want one." I heard Thalia murmur as she stared at my tattoo, I laugh at her immaturity and continue walking toward the room where we first met up this morning. Thalia clears her throat behind me and I turn to see what she wants and instantly turn back around to avoid staring at Thalia. Thalia apparently was also wearing a weight vest, and like me, she also wore it underneath her shirt, and, once again, like me, she needs assistance removing it. There she stood, her back facing me, wearing nothing to cover her chest, but the weight vest that she apparently expected me to take off of her. I blushed furiously again and stammered a few times before swallowing my embarrassment, closing my eyes, and walking forward, toward Thalia, hoping that nobody sees us doing this. "Don't worry Percy, you'll be fine, I don't have cooties anymore, trust me. I don't bite either." Thalia said, no doubt teasing me, and that made me angry and spiteful enough to open my eyes, focus on something else, and step forward and unzip Thalia's weight vest and turn around quickly, trying to hide my arousal at Thalia's seductive tone and her soft, supple skin, despite the scars that, personally, add to her allure, and her thin waist and narrow, lithe hips and her pale, creamy skin.

I quickly shook those thoughts from my head, not wanting to offend any maiden goddesses, or former hunters for that matter. I looked over at Thalia again, glad that she was wearing a shirt, and not being all shirtless and sexy. I put my shirt on again as well as we walked back to the training arena until we made it to the armory, where we went our separate ways, saying goodbye, and making plans to meet up after training.

"You're late." Leo said, without looking at me or even turning around. I rolled my eyes and took my place behind my desk to find…nothing. I looked around at the other areas and realized that they too had no equipment on them, causing me to furrow my brows in frustration and to think heavily on the possible exercises we could be doing. "I take it that you two were off kanoodling somewhere." Leo said, unable to hide the smirk in his voice. I was tempted to just jump over the desk and kick his ass then and there, but then he said something that just made me want to kill him more. "Well, usually I do strength, but since Thalia asked to do strength with you, I'm doing speed slash balance slash agility training, therefore, instead of using any enhancers, or any other useful trinkets and tools, we will only be using the arena itself, in stage K-… either 37 or 29, I don't remember which, but it one of those will be the best arena for this training."

I nodded at Leo and watched in awe as the wall behind Leo slid open to reveal a huge, Roman style coliseum…with a huge difference. Other than the gigantic expanse of ground surrounded by a series of platform seats and surrounding a medium sized column that rose about three feet out of the ground with a hand-held remote and a pair of gloves with wires attached at the back of the fingertips and the wrist.

I followed Leo to the center of the arena and watched as he took the gloves and waved them over his shoulder to me, as if giving them to me. I took the gloves and put them on, flexing my fingers to make sure that they fit. I was about to ask Leo what the gloves were for when suddenly, I wasn't in the same place, the flat, plain-like, expanse that I was in, now was a city, bustling, full of people and with different heights and widths of buildings and overhanging poles and tarps, with clothes' lines and plenty of narrow alleys, a perfect place for a ninja to do their thing. I was still looking around, taking in details when I heard a speaker turning on and a familiar voice clearing his throat and beginning to speak, but as soon as Leo began, I knew there was something wrong. There was an edge to Leo's voice, an edge of regret and apprehension, but after he cleared his throat again, it was gone. "Alright, you have ten minutes to find all three flags, gather them in the safe zone, avoid the stealthy, Hand Made, killer robots, three of them, and don't kill any of the civilians, or make too much of a ruckus, and give away your position. This is an exercise in stealth, speed, agility and balance, so, instead of trying to kill the automatons, avoid them and use stealth to stay alive. And, um, good luck, remember, ten minutes." Leo said, his voice showing compassion and fear for me, I smiled, '_it's nice to have friends' _I thought to myself, before a loud buzzing alerted me to the beginning of this training round.

_Well, let's get started_. I thought to myself, smiling and I started running up the street I was on. I remembered all the times that I had gone hunting with Artemis and her hunters, they told me to climb trees, get high, get a good viewpoint on the situation and keep moving. I ran through the crowds, trying to not draw attention to myself. I quickly turned off of the back road and onto the main thoroughfare, trying to get to the center of the city. I quickly moved into one of the buildings and ran to the roof, trying to get higher than the bustle of the crowd, and then I saw them. The flags, and the three robots, the robots guarded the flags and they appeared to still be deactivated, but I figured that they would all activate when I got the first of the three flags, but hey! I'm just pulling this out of my ass, so they could only activate one robot for one flag, or they could be time activated, but I don't have the time to keep speculating, so I quickly ran to the edge of the roof and jumped to the next one, thankful that all of the robots were on the rooftops so I didn't have to deal with pesky civilians. I landed on the next roof and kept running, making my way to the first flag, careful not to fall or trip. I got to the edge of the next building, and stopped suddenly, flailing wildly, trying not to fall off into a deep, wide alley and break my legs, I looked around and saw that there was a small outcropping near where I stood and a window on the other side of the alley that I could jump into. I didn't know if I would be able to jump it, but I tried anyway, throwing myself into the window headfirst and rolling to a stand and I began running again. I wanted to get to the nearest flag in at least two minutes or I'd have to double my speed to the next two. I quickly dashed across the room and out the window on the other side, basically hoping that I didn't die. Suddenly, I wasn't there anymore, I was right where I started the simulation, in the middle of a bustling street without any idea what just happened. I looked up and around, trying to figure out what happened when suddenly, all of my instincts told me that death was near, and ducking was mandatory, I quickly complied and watched as a throwing knife whizzed over my head. I quickly turned around saw a gleaming bronze automaton. I quickly ran away from the automaton and prayed that no one was hit with the blade that he threw. I ducked into a house and quickly ran upstairs, hoping that the automaton couldn't keep up with my speed, but unfortunately, as soon as the thought crossed my mind, an arrow flew between my legs and imbedded itself into the stair that I just stepped over.

I kept running and leapt up through the skylight onto the roof, hoping that the automaton wouldn't have my jumping abilities, or even better, it could get stuck in the skylight. I looked around again and saw that this time, there were only two automatons and still the three flags, which means now, instead of all three of the automatons guarding the flags, there were two guarding the flags and one that was roving around the town, attempting to kill me at any possible moment. I remember Leo saying not to damage the automatons, and I really didn't want to find out what he would do if I destroyed one of them, so I continued running, going from one rooftop to another, moving toward the unguarded flag. Of course, my luck couldn't actually hold out, because that would unbalance the cosmic shitty karma that seems to loom over me and every other demigod that was born into the universe, but enough metaphysical ranting, back to me almost dying a lot. The automaton apparently was able to get onto the roofs and navigate them as well, because as soon as I was within three buildings of the flag, another throwing knife imbedded itself in a wall that I was passing beside, splattering me with shrapnel of brick shards and stone. I ducked automatically, making sure that I kept moving though.

"Jack Shit!" I screamed, remembering what my mother always said about cursing when I was angry. I continued moving toward the flag and suddenly, another flash of memory zoomed through my head, much like the time when I made my oath to Lord Order and Lady Chaos. But this memory…thing, was more precise, more detailed, it showed me things pertaining to a single idea: Speed. I remembered Artemis' hunters moving through the forest, dodging trees, leaping over downed logs, crossing creaks in a single bound and occasionally even using low tree branches to do complicated flips in midair, or even to use their hands like front paws to make their jumps longer. It all made sense too, I could see how the moves were preformed and how they aided the speed and efficiency of the hunters, and I could, and would do it.

Leo

"Holy shi-" I began before getting slapped across the back of the head by Lady Chaos. I mean, I'd seen Thalia going through this obstacle course, and she's a frickin' ninja, but this dude was moving like a blur. He barely showed up on the monitors at all, his time was insane, and here he is, pulling off stunts that I had to practice for days, on his first time! I watched as he pulled off a horizontal jump, using a lateral bar to double his distance, he jumped twenty feet horizontally! Suddenly, all doubts about upcoming missions, all fears, all apprehension, it all disappeared, vanished, because if this guy was on our side, holding our backs, we had nothing to worry about, nothing at all. There were no gods, no monsters, no titans, no giants, nothing, that would be able to hold it's own with this guy. "Chaos, please tell me I'm hallucinating, cause if not, this guy just pulled off a move that I've seen Thals have trouble with." I asked, looking away from the monitor, only to see a proud smile on her face, staring into the monitor, just like my Madre used to do, and gods I missed it.

I turned back to the monitor quickly, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to fall and concentrated on keeping the simulation stable throughout the rounds that Percy was putting it through, I'd seen some professional street runners, and they looked something like this, moving in sync with the rhythm of the people, dashing through the crowds and into and out of houses with complete faith in his footing, performing rolls to soften his landings and using walls and poles to further his jumps and rebounding off of the automatons to escape. I watched as he performed crazy break-dancing moves and free running flips and insane wall climbs, using windows and overhanging poles to climb completely vertical walls. I watched as he dispatched the second and third automatons with ease using a blanket that had been hanging from a laundry line and the laundry line itself. He first wrapped the blanket around the automaton and tied up its legs with the laundry line. I sat, unable to make sense of what I was seeing as he grabbed the flag and quickly dashed toward the next flag, using amazing parkour moves to leap from building to building, never stopping, and never losing momentum, finally retrieving the third flag and starting on his way toward the shaft of light that launched its way through the lower atmosphere and into the domain of Aether. I quickly threw in one last deterrent in an attempt to slow him down. I quickly took control of the automatons, guiding them toward Percy, using a secret addition that I had thrown in, just to play around with: jetpacks.

"You're a jerk, you know that?" Percy screamed at me, glaring up at the ceiling, even though I was watching him through the eyes of the civilians and the automatons, but that's fine, cause I'd rather not be on the other end of Percy's glare. Right as the automatons were about to overwhelm Percy, something happened, Percy whirled around and lashed out with a kick to it's chest and using his momentum to propel himself forward into the safe zone, and I suddenly caused the entire simulation to disappear and Percy hung, suspended thirty feet in the air, staring down at the ground and cursing me with his best ammunition. I smirked evilly and decided to give like for like, plus interest and I completely released my hold on Percy and dropped him harshly on the ground. Percy got up slowly and began to brush himself off, still cursing me with his every breath. I laughed at him, using the teleported to send myself directly beside Percy, scaring him shitless. There was little I could do, but laugh and attempt to breath as I rolled on the floor, writhing in agony, after Percy punched me in the sternum and muttered something under his breath about revenge. I laughed at his words, but got up myself, not willing myself to show the amount of pure agony that I was experiencing.

"Leo Valdez and Perseus Jackson, please make your way to the main pavilion, Lord Order and Lady Chaos would like to speak with you three." The announcement rang around the arena and caused me to groan, today was going to be a long day…

**Existence's POV**

Despite my extreme dislike for that Leo boy, I have to say, he was more right than he would probably ever realize. The trio of heroes did, in fact, have a long day, in fact, they had a long year, or at least a long year in earth time. The three spent almost all of their time training in various time periods throughout Earth history and I had to admit that their powers had grown significantly since they began, so much so that they may at one point provide a challenge, and that, was something to look forward to. I quickly moved away from my thoughts when my servants appeared from the past, the part of the past, directly before Perseus discovered his absorption abilities, from their deal with Zeus. That time, of course, I was far beyond them, but I exist in all space and time, so it is to be expected. I looked at them expectantly, and they merely nodded.

"Good, his mind was weak anyway." I stated, rubbing my hands together. "I was right about him accepting without much goading, was I not?" Another nod. I nodded along and moved one more chess piece into position, I was almost ready. "The Olympians are weaker now, with their half-breed parasites on the council. They shall fall easily, especially with Perseus out of the way." I finished, plotting out loud, knowing that even if they tried, these mere minions would never be able to disclose my plans to my enemies, they weren't important enough to the time-stream to stop my plans, their existence could stop without time being drastically altered. I smirked at the thought: _I had created myself that way, distorting the time-stream, ah, good times…_I smiled as parts of my personality surfaced. They were annoying tid-bits, laden with sarcasm, and snark, but in truth, I had gotten used to them. I motioned them away and looked back at the wall behind my desk, the sword still hung there, untouched since the day she'd died… again. I frowned slightly, trying to forget my old life- No! It wasn't a life! It was merely a progression of events that lead me to here, if she hadn't died, I wouldn't be this powerful, I shouldn't dwell…

**Ether's POV**

As much as I despise Existence, the three heroes did, in fact, have a hard year, spent in almost complete isolation, with only each other for company. The isolation, however, did nothing but bring the three closer together, firming the bond between Leo and Perseus to almost familial levels but Perseus and Thalia seemed to have difficulty opening up to each other, until one night, Percy snapped…

After a long day of awkward training and running through the city, chasing each other in a giant, deadly game of tag, Percy and Thalia were exhausted, panting heavily, but still acting awkward around each other, until finally, Percy couldn't take anymore.

"Thalia!" Percy screamed, grabbing her arm and spinning her around to face him. Thalia faced him, but still looked down, not looking him in the eye, but Perseus would have none of that. He grabbed her chin lightly, and forced her to look him in the eye. Percy was surprised by the shame and sadness that he found in her startling blue eyes. Thalia took Percy's surprised look for disgust, and turned away, unable to keep the tears from falling. Percy, not knowing what was going on, grabbed Thalia's arms and turned her around to face him. Percy quickly pulled Thalia into a hug, but she still tried to push him away, but he held her close to his chest, until finally, she broke down and began to sob into Percy's chest. He pulled her tighter to his chest and put his chin on the top of her head. Percy quickly teleported them both to their private quarters and picked Thalia up, walking her over to his couch and sitting down, with her in his lap, and her head under his chin. He felt so relaxed as they sat down that she could feel it rolling off of him in waves. This broke down the barriers that had been placed around Perseus' emotions since he learned of Annabeth's desertion, but he remained in control enough, that only a single tear leaked down his face. Perseus and Thalia sat there for a long while until soon Thalia fell asleep in Perseus' arms. Perseus got up from his place on the couch, carrying Thalia to her room, and eventually placing her in her bed, and stepping back, about to turn and leave when Thalia began to speak.

"It was about three months before we came here." She began, turning to face away from Perseus. "I was called to Lady Artemis' tent, and like usual, being an obedient hunter, I went. Lady Artemis was facing away from the door, fiddling with her bow. She never let her hands wander. She didn't respond to me entering, so I just sat down behind her, across the hearth from her, and waited for her to speak. I must have sat there for a good half hour before she turned around, it looked like she had been crying. I went to comfort her, but she waved me off, motioning for me to sit down. I sat down and waited for her to finish cleaning herself up, before she began speaking." Here, she sat up and looked at Perseus, who had been standing and looking at her with calm and placating adoration.

She looked back down and continued the story, unable to face Perseus until the truth was aired. "She told me that she had feelings…for you… and she wanted to know more about you, and she told me that she would like it if I didn't tell anyone about the nature of our discussion. I- I was confused and all turned around, because I had always had a- I had always liked you too…it was small, like a crush, because I had been hurt before, and I knew- well, thought, that Annabeth liked you as well, and she was like my little sister." She paused and brought her hand up to her eye, wiping away any stray tears, and looked up to see her friend's reaction. Percy stepped up to the side of the bed, and climbed in, ignoring the squirming in his gut, and put an arm around Thalia's shoulders, rubbing her arm comfortingly. Thalia continued. "I made up my mind, then and there, that I would suppress any feelings I had to try to help Lady Artemis, because I knew- I knew that you would never hurt her, and this was her first time, really having feelings for a man, so I wanted her to be happy. Here we are though, we're stuck in an alternate dimension in space, for crying out loud! So, I did a little bit of flirting, with the shirt and the teasing, and I hate myself…I feel so… Wrong, like a whore, a slut… and I hate myself, because Lady Artemis told me about her feelings and I betrayed her trust." Thalia finished, looking over at Percy, expecting him to be angry, or laughing at her, but instead, he hugged her closer to his chest and put his chin on her head again. Percy was glad that she had told him the truth, but he wished that she didn't have to choose between herself, and her mistress.

Percy grabbed her chin lightly, forcing her to look him in the eye, and said, with all the force he could muster. "I have no clue what to do. I don't know what's going to happen, and I don't want you or Artemis to be hurt. I love you, and I know this is just asking for trouble, but I love both of you, and that hurts too." He finished, kissing Thalia on the forehead, and getting up from the bed. He began to walk to her door when Thalia's voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Can you stay with me then?- Just for tonight!" She tacked on hastily at the end, not wanting to seem presumptuous. Percy turned around and smiled at her, glad that she didn't hate him for admitting his love for her and her mistress, and walked back to the bed, and laid down beside her, Thalia, laying her head on his arm, turned away from him and laid in the fetal position beside him.

I smiled at the sight, sure that I had left Thalia in good hands…Perseus'

**Perseus' POV**

I woke up in the morning with a numb arm, a stiff back, and a mess of black hair just beneath my chin. I looked down and smiled, remembering the night before, and my discussion with Thalia. I quickly got my arm out from under her head and walked to the door, planning on taking a long shower and then waking Thalia up. I was about to leave the room when, once again, Thalia's voice stopped me. I turned around and smiled, she was still asleep, and apparently dreaming of me. "Don't you dare, Perseus." She said, making me smile. "Get your ass back in this bed, right now, or I will shock off your eyebrows." She finished, causing me to laugh, but I caved in to her dreaming demands and made my way back to the bed that we shared last night. I slipped my arm back underneath her head and this time I put my other arm above her, surrounding her. I laid my chin back on her head again and laughed as she gave a contented sigh and snuggled closer to me.

I smiled despite myself, content at the situation that I found myself, and then I remembered that on Olympus, the shit must have really hit the fan, and I glared at the wall. I would be back and when I was, I was going to kick Zeus' ass…


End file.
